Is RPA Cost Effective for Businesses in '24?

While robotic process automation (RPA) adoption rate has been increasing in recent years, it’s still not as high as it perhaps should be, given its numerous benefits. For example, when we break down adoption by industry, there’s room for improvement.

Cost reduction is a major incentive behind companies embracing intelligent automation tools, like an RPA solution:

• According to Deloitte, 2/3¹ of the respondents to their 2019 survey cited “cost saving” as their primary motivation behind RPA investment.
• However, “failing” in this regard – as 53% of respondents claimed to have achieved less than 10% savings – might push companies towards scrapping their RPA implementation plans altogether.

In this article, we will discuss the common reasons why companies might not realize their cost savings expectations, discuss the cost efficiency of RPA, and showcase some best practices to increase the ROI of your intelligent automation efforts. 

Why aren’t companies realizing their RPA cost-saving expectations?

We’ve gathered 6 main reasons why companies aren’t realizing their robotic process automation (RPA) cost-saving expectations. By addressing these issues, companies can maximize the cost-saving potential of the RPA technology and achieve a higher RPA ROI.

1. Poor planning & strategy

A well-defined RPA strategy includes a clear understanding of the processes to be automated, a realistic outlook of potential benefits, and the required resources. Suboptimal planning leads to wasted use of resources and undesirable results.

2. Inadequate process selection

Not all processes are suitable for automation. Selecting a process that is too complex requires human judgment, and changes frequently might result in unrealized cost savings. Your ideal process for automation is:

• Repetitive
• Rule-based
• High-volume

Leverage a process mining tool. It will x-ray your systems and give you their as-is image of your repetitive tasks so you could delegate them to bots and reduce operational costs.

3. Insufficient training & skills

More no-code RPA vendors are emerging who are democratizing process automation and making RPA accessible. But still, your employees need some degree of training with RPA technology. Suffering from a skills gap, and inadequate training, poses a challenge to RPA success.

4. Lack of governance and management

RPA systems need strong governance. Without it, there may be:

• Misunderstandings about roles and responsibilities
• Poor communication
• Lack of coordination, leading to inefficiencies and cost overruns.

To counteract it, companies should:

• Establish governance: Define clear roles and responsibilities. This might involve establishing an RPA governance board, setting quantifiable KPIs and tracking them, and creating document policies.
• Monitor and optimize: Continuously monitor your RPA tools to ensure optimal performance from your automated business process, and undertake necessary RPA reconfigurations. Using an RPAssS RPA vendor might help. These cloud-based tools offer visible dashboards and built-in monitoring, in addition to 24/7 visibility and access to your RPA system.
• Manage change: With the introduction of RPA bots, business processes and roles will change. Companies need to manage these changes effectively through communication, training, and support. In addition, discuss the effect of RPA bots on employees’ future, and be conscious of robotic process automation’s ethical risks.

5. Focus on the total cost of ownership

Companies should consider the total cost of ownership of an RPA solution. This includes the cost of software under RPA vendor pricing, infrastructure, maintenance, operational costs, and upgrades. Underestimating these costs can impact the return on investment.

The global RPA market has different types of vendors. We have extensively written on RPA pricing in the past:

• RPA Pricing: Comparison of Leading RPA Vendors’ Fees
• Top 6 Freemium & Free RPA Providers
• UiPath Pricing: Their Three RPA Plans, Simply Explained

Keep in mind that RPA vendors aren’t always transparent in their pricing models, and if you’re a newcomer to the space, you might end up paying for services you don’t need. Using RPA consultants can help you navigate the RPA vendor selection process. You can also reach out to us. We can help you find a vendor that meets your specific needs: 

Find the Right Vendors 

6. Failure to scale

Some companies successfully implement RPA at a small scale but struggle to scale up their operations and suffer from RPA scaling costs. Without a strategic approach to scale, RPA deployment might not realize your cost expectations.

Using an RPA partner who is professional at scaling your existing RPA systems, or who can build you a new one from scratch, can be a good idea. Learn more about these RPA consulting partners that will cost you less than $2,000 annually:

Guide to Choosing an RPA Technology Partner

How can RPA implementation result in cost savings?

Once RPA bots reside across your workflows to automate manual tasks, you expect cost reductions to come from the following angles:

1. Increased productivity: RPA can automate up to 80% of repetitive tasks, freeing up employees to focus on higher-value activities. According to a Deloitte report, 86%² of respondents said their business productivity increased due to RPA.
2. Reduced error rates: Manual processes are error-prone, which can be costly. RPA bots work within rule-based frameworks, thus minimizing error possibilities and resulting in cost savings.. According to the same report, 90% of respondents said that RPA deployment improved the quality and accuracy of their front office and back office operations.
3. Improved compliance: RPA can help ensure processes are compliant with regulations, reducing the risk of fines and reputational damage. Same survey shows that 92% of businesses reported improved compliance as a result of RPA.
4. Faster processing times: RPA can reduce the time it takes to process mundane tasks, across different use cases. 

For more on RPA

In case you are curious about learning more about RPA, read:

• Top 4 Cost-Effective RPA Tools Under $2,000
• 5 Ways RPA Contributes to Operational Excellence
• RPA Incident Management: 5 IT Metrics RPA Can Improve

If you want to learn more about all things RPA, download our whitepaper:

Get RPA Whitepaper

And if you want to invest in an RPA solution, we have a data-driven of RPA vendor list.

External Links

• 1. “How Much Disruption? Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey 2023.” Deloitte. 2020. Retrieved on June 9, 2023.
• 2. “The Robots Are Ready, Are You?” Deloitte. 2018. Retrieved on June 9, 2023.